KISS to Become Knowledge, Logistical Hub of FIFA’s ‘Football For School’ Initiative

The worldwide football governing body FIFA decided to boost its ties with the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), Bhubaneswar and strengthen cooperation in the ‘Football for School’ program in Odisha, besides exploring opportunities to expand it across India and South Asia.

A letter of intent has been signed between Youri Djorkaeff, CEO of the FIFA Foundation, and Dr. Achyuta Samanta, Founder of KISS. The document broadly contains the terms and conditions for both entities to commit to investigating avenues of opportunity together. The main part of the document is particularly concerning the extension of the Football for Schools program, which is already active across ten FIFA Member Associations.

FIFA has selected KISS Bhubaneswar as its nodal agency for the promotion of football. It was encouraged in a great manner by the Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik. During the Signing-in ceremony, FiFA CEO said “The main emphasis of FIFA was on promoting sports and sporting activities in the State”. KISS announced the launch of India’s first-ever FIFA Football for School Program in association with FIFA in the month of October 2021. 

On this occasion, Mr Djorkaeff said: “It is with great pride and excitement that today we sign this letter of intent with the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences. We are delighted today to officialise our collaboration with the FIFA Foundation, and we are looking forward to working alongside our colleagues to develop the Football for Schools programme in Odisha.” In this reaction, Dr Samanta Said “Football is the global game, and we have already seen the power it has to unite, inspire, and educate in every corner of the world through the work already done by this program.” 

Dr Samanta also praised Chief Minister Shri Patnaik for promoting sports in such an amazing manner in the State. KISS is a well-known institute which is considered the largest fully free residential school and university for indigenous children, with 30,000 residential students and 30,000 studying on satellite campuses. It has also provided students with a platform for many sports persons with state-of-the-art facilities and has successfully produced the highest number of Olympians in Indian sports. The Global Ambassador of KISS is Dr Niklaus Samuel Gugger, Swiss Member of Parliament.